


stay alive

by sunsetozier



Series: tumblr prompts [2]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Blood, Fighting, M/M, Prompt Fill, Sort Of, Wounds, eddie is a strong boi taking care of his lover, idk - Freeform, the 100 au, they're gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 11:24:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15118361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetozier/pseuds/sunsetozier
Summary: The plan was to get Richie somewhere safe and then go back to help defend their camp, but then two Grounders broke through the others and swung wildly – which is how Eddie got the cut on his thigh, and how Richie got the huge gash on his side, and the plan quickly changed. Now, it’s to find somewhere safe for the two of them, and to keep Richie alive.Easier said than done, but Eddie is nothing if not a stubborn little shit, which is, for once, a good thing.[In which Richie gets hurt and Eddie has to save him. A vague the 100 au prompt fill.]





	stay alive

**Author's Note:**

> i want to write a full the 100 au but i haven't gotten around to plotting it or anything and the dialogue prompts sent to me fit well with it so here ya go.
> 
> the prompts i got: "I'm going to keep you safe." + "I want to take care of you."

            Eddie doesn’t know how things spiraled out of control so suddenly, but he doesn’t exactly have the time to stop and figure it out, so instead of dwelling on it, he tightens his hold on Richie’s waist, bites down on his tongue to keep himself from cursing out loud, and pushes forward. His legs are killing him from holding up both his weight and practically all of Richie’s, muscles crying out with every step he takes, and he can feel the warmth on his thigh from where a Grounder had managed to snag him with the edge of a sword, leaving a cut not too deep or wide, but definitely painful enough for him to notice as he maneuvers them between trees and through bushes. Behind him, he can hear the battle still roaring on, the clashing of weapons and the echoing cries of pain as people from both sides fall. Part of him aches to turn around and join the fight, but whenever he considers it he can hear Stan’s voice in his head, telling him to get Richie somewhere safe, and then he hears the uneven breathing of the boy beside him, labored and pained, and any urge to go back vanishes into thin air.

            Richie had been infected with the virus sent by the Grounders to weaken the battle field, blood dripping from his eyes and gushing out of his nose and pouring out of his mouth with a mixture of vomit, snot, spit and tears. His body was already weak and tired, only just now beginning to recover from the brutal sickness, when the first arrow went flying into their camp, striking an unexpecting kid – someone named Eric, if Eddie remembers correctly – and all hell broke loose. Eddie went straight to the drop ship and arrived just in time to find a Grounder hovering over Richie’s unconscious form, prepared to make the kill, only to end up dead on the floor after Eddie withdrew his gun and sent four bullets straight into his back. Richie woke up when the Grounder fell on him, and he barely had time to let out a little scream before another one came in and Eddie had to fight them off, too.

            From where he was, Richie did everything he could, shouting out warnings to Eddie as he struggled to push the dead weight off of him, but there was only so much the two could manage before they needed help, and that help came in the form of one Stanley Uris, who quickly got the assistance of Bill, Mike, Beverly, and Ben to clear a path to get the two away from the fighting. The plan was to get Richie somewhere safe and then go back to help defend their camp, but then two Grounders broke through the others and swung wildly – which is how Eddie got the cut on his thigh, and how Richie got the huge gash on his side, and the plan quickly changed. Now, it’s to find somewhere safe for the two of them, and to keep Richie alive.

            Easier said than done, but Eddie is nothing if not a stubborn little shit, which is, for once, a good thing.

            “There’s a cave up ahead,” he breathes out, afraid to be too loud in case there are any Grounders lurking around here, but it seems to him that all of them are currently back at the camp, which bodes well for them right now. “Just hold on, Rich. We’re almost there.”

            Weakly, Richie nods, and Eddie catches a glimpse of his pale skin shining with sweat, smears of blood glinting in the low light filtering through the trees. He parts his lips to speak, but only manages to let out a hiss of pain as the slice on his ribcage aches. With a little grunt, Richie lulls his head to the side, resting it halfway on Eddie’s shoulder, and murmurs, “Sure thing, Doc.”

            With an airy little laugh, Eddie steers them to the left, recognizing the path that they’re on, and murmurs, “Of course, you don’t even use my real name when you’re bleeding out on me. Fantastic. I should have expected that.” Richie offers a strained grin, but before he can try to form a retort, a sharp gasp leaves him as his foot catches on a branch and sends him stumbling. Eddie manages to keep him upright, but with their height difference it’s not easy to do, and he knows they need to get to that cave soon or else they’ll be forced to sit out in the open. Swallowing thickly, he reassures, “Just another minute or two, okay? You’re gonna be fine, I swear.”

            “Oh, I know I’m gonna be fine,” Richie tells him, and the words sound like they’re meant to be joking, but they come out breathless and genuine. “You wouldn’t let me die, Eds. That doesn’t make it hurt any less, though.”

            “I feel like I should be telling you to shut up and not waste your energy on speaking,” Eddie huffs, feeling a wave of relief wash down his spine as he sees the entrance of the cave ahead, “but if you were quiet, I’d be even more concerned, so keep talking.”

            Richie snorts. “Will do, Doc. How far away are we?”

            With something that sounds almost like a grateful sob, Eddie pulls Richie into the cave and answers, “Right here. I’m gonna set you down, okay? It’s probably gonna hurt.”

            “Just do it, Eds,” Richie murmurs, taking in a deep breath in preparation, only to let the air out in a quiet hiss as Eddie lowers his body to the ground, propping him up against the wall. Immediately, Eddie kneels besides him and lifts his shirt to examine the cut, eyes narrowing at the size of it – starting besides Richie’s belly button and stretching over his rib cage. Richie watches him with half-lidded eyes, breathing heavily, and softly asks, “What’s the damage, Doc?”

            “Not good,” Eddie tells him honestly, “but you should be fine, as long as we stop the bleeding. Except, it looks like…” he trails off, leaning in closer and bringing a hand up to gently run a finger below the cut, causing Richie to take in a short, sharp breath. Eddie shakes his head slightly, trying to figure out what about this wound that looks different yet somehow familiar, when suddenly it hits him and sends him reeling back with a loud, “Fuck!”

            Blinking, Richie tries to lean forward, reaching a hand out in Eddie’s direction, only to let out a quiet curse and slump back against the wall, arm resting limply in his lap. “What?” he asks franticly, eyes wide. “Eds, what’s wrong?”

            Eddie runs a hand through his hair and tugs, kicking at the wall as more fowl words fall from his mouth, one after another, and he sees red. All of this time, Eddie has only hurt or killed other people when absolutely necessary, not fond of the feeling that comes with each life taken, but now he feels absolutely _murderous_ , and if he were still at camp, oh, the Grounders would have a hard time trying to stop him.

            “What’s wrong?” Richie repeats, sounding worried but even more scared. “ _Eddie_.”

            It’s the raw fear in Richie’s voice that draws Eddie out of his rage-induced tantrum, and he stands there, heaving in deep breaths. “It’s poisoned,” he states, eyes fluttering shut. “The blade they used, it had poison on it, and I don’t have the antidote.”

            “Oh,” Richie breathes, shell shocked. His gaze slides down to the bloody mess on his side, then trails up to Eddie’s blood-soaked pant leg. “Does that mean yours is, too?”

            Eddie parts his lips, then  falters, brows furrowing together. He follows Richie’s line of sight and kneels down to roll up the material until he can take a look at his own wound, which he’d completely forgotten about for a few minutes there. After a moment, he sighs and shakes his head, pushing the material back down. “Nope. There were two of them, one of them must have poisoned their weapon and the other one didn’t. And you—”

            “I’m the unlucky bastard that got the poison,” Richie finishes with a humorless laugh, head rolling back to rest against the rock. He stubbornly blinks away tears. “Wow. This is not how I wanted to die. Not even a little bit.”

            “Hey, hey- look at me, Rich.” Eddie shuffles forward on his knees until he’s right by Richie’s side. Richie sniffs and closes his eyes, a few stray tears rolling down his dirt-smeared cheeks. Eddie reaches up and takes a hold of Richie’s chin between his thumb and his pointer finger, repeating, “Look at me, Richie. Open your eyes.” It takes a moment of coaxing, but eventually Richie reluctantly does as instructed, his eyelids fluttering open to reveal the most heartbreaking terror that Eddie has ever seen.

            “You don’t have to lie to me, Eds,” Richie whispers, averting his gaze, but his lower lip is trembling is the tears aren’t stopping. “There’s nothing we can do. I get it.”

            Eddie shakes his head curtly. “No. Fuck that. I’m not gonna let you die, okay? You said it yourself. I want to take care of you, and that means I’m going to take care of you. So, just- just wait here, okay? Don’t make a sound, try to keep yourself hidden, and I’ll be right back. Okay?”

            Immediately, Richie’s eyes snap back to meet Eddie’s steely, determined gaze. “Eds—”

            “I’ll be right back,” Eddie repeats, and before he pushes himself to his feet, he finds a burst of courage within him, because he might not be right back. He’s walking into a war, and for all he knows, he’ll get slaughtered. With this thought, he surges forward to press a deep, meaningful kiss to Richie’s parted lips, and it’s messy, teeth clacking together and breaths caught in their throats, but when he pulls back, their cheeks are both tinted red and Eddie can see the delight shining in Richie’s eyes. “Stay alive, Trashmouth.”

            “You, too, Doc,” Richie breaths out, looking like he’s in a daze as Eddie withdraws completely. He spares Richie a longing look, wishing he could fix this without having to leave, but that’s not an option. If he wants to keep Richie alive, he has to do this.

            Swallowing thickly, Eddie spins around on his heel and sprints out of the cave.

 

 

 

 

            The battle back at camp has only escalated, bodies littering the ground and blood soaking almost every visible surface. Eddie isn’t sure where to go from here, standing stiff in the entrance to the camp, but thankfully it doesn’t take long before one of his friends spots him, and suddenly Ben is there, panting and looking like hell. “What are you doing back? Where’s Richie?”

            “Poison,” Eddie says, needing to get straight to the point.. “His immune system of already weak from the virus. I need to find the antidote. _Now_.”

            Ben blinks, his lips falling into a silent oh as he nods. “Okay. You search the Grounders over there, I’ll go over here. Don’t get yourself killed.”

            “Got it.” Eddie doesn’t bother wasting time, instead throwing himself to the ground where Ben had gestured and getting to work on rolling over the dead Grounders and rifling through their things. Around him, there’s still the loud sounds of a fight, and he can faintly hear Ben explaining what’s going on to someone else, and suddenly he can hear someone behind him defending off any Grounders who try to approach him. He glances over his shoulder while moving from one body to the next, and there stands Beverly, mercilessly taking the life of anyone who tries to interfere. He makes a note to thank her later, but for now, he just turns back around and keeps looking.

            Faintly, muffled by the sounds of gunfire and clashing swords, he hears Ben shout, “I found it!”

            Eddie looks up, eyes brightening at the familiar vial being held up in Ben’s hands. Quickly, he pushes himself to his feet and closes the space between them to take the vial, closing it in his fist and giving Ben a grateful look. “Thank you.”

            “Just go save Richie,” Ben says, shoving at Eddie’s shoulder. “We’ve got a plan here, so don’t worry about us, okay? Go.”

            “Good luck,” Eddie tells him, and part of him wants to stay, but the rest of him is itching to get back to the cave as quickly as possible.

            Ben grins. “You, too.”

            And with that, Eddie nods, turns, and starts running, pushing past anyone who gets in his way, leaping over bodies until he’s outside of the camp walls. Once there, he quickly makes his way down the familiar path, ducking under branches and barely dodging tree trunks in his haste to get back to Richie. It doesn’t take nearly as long as it did before, thanks to him not having to hold another person’s weight, but it still feels like he’s not fast enough, even when he quite literally slides into the cave and immediately falls to his knees by Richie’s side.

            “You’re back,” Richie murmurs, and he sounds like he wants the words to be energetic, but one look at him tells Eddie that he’s barely managing to keep his eyes open. His skin has gone terrifyingly pale and his smile is wobbly at best. “Good. Missed you.”

            “You got sick?” Eddie asks, but it’s not really a question, because he can see the sheen of spit on Richie’s chin and the puddle of vomit on the ground.

            Richie shrugs, wincing at the strain the action puts on his side. “A little, yeah. No seizures, though. That’s a good sign, right? Everyone else who got poisoned had a seizure.”

            Brushing back a few sweat-damp curls from Richie’s forward, Eddie offers a small grin and a nod. “Yeah, Rich. I think that’s good.” He leans forward to kiss Richie’s forehead, soft and sweet, relishing in the slight upturn of Richie’s lips in response. His smile quickly falls, however, when they hear the sound of someone sprinting past the mouth of the cave, thankfully not ducking inside and finding the two huddled within. Eddie can feel his heart break as Richie lets out a shaky breath, too weak and tired to even tense up in fear, and softly, he says, “I’m going to keep you safe, okay? I swear it. Cross my heart.”

            “Okay,” Richie breathes, nodding slightly. He meets Eddie’s gaze, swallows thickly, and then nods again, this time looking more sure of his actions. “Did you get the antidote?”

            “Right here,” Eddie tells him, unfurling his fist to reveal the vial still resting in his palm. Unable to help himself, he kisses Richie again, this time on the lips, and when he pulls away, he doesn’t go very far, barely even an inch of space between them as he promises, “You’re gonna be fine.”

**Author's Note:**

> as always, let me know what you think and hmu on tumblr @ sunsetozier !!


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